Peggy Fikac: Top Texas emergency? Give Las Vegas a call

PEGGY FIKAC, HOUSTON CHRONICLE |
January 23, 2011

AUSTIN — Word came from Las Vegas last week: Voter identification legislation is among the emergencies facing Texas lawmakers this session.

The official notice actually came from Gov. Rick Perry's Austin office. But Perry himself was in Las Vegas the same day, selling his book Fed Up! at the SHOT — Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade — show.

The governor even posted a photo on Twitter taken there with buddy “Uncle Ted” Nugent, asking people to stop by. (Check it out on our Texas Politics blog. My colleague Nolan Hicks included the photo in his “First Word” morning brief on Friday).

Perry's people often note he can take care of state business wherever he is. He also added a call for a balanced-budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution to lawmakers' emergency list while in Vegas.

But his jaunt can be seen as another indication of how little he worries about Democratic criticism that his choice of emergency items ignores the state's big emergency - a budget shortfall threatening deep cuts in vital state services.

The items he's chosen to fast-track square with the GOP governor's limited government, anti-Washington appeal to the GOP base - and for that matter, so does selling an anti-Washington book at a gun show.

The Voter ID measure passed the Senate in 2009 but died in the House when Democrats used delaying tactics to stall it. Republicans say requiring voters to have better identification will prevent fraud; Democrats say it could hurt turnout of legal voters who may not have state ID like a driver license, such as those who are poor or elderly.

This time, Democrats have little hope of stopping Voter ID in either chamber. Senators have once again exempted the issue from a requirement that two-thirds of their body agree to bring up legislation, taking away Democrats' most potent tool. GOP Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who's got his eye on a U.S. Senate seat, said the state Senate will begin considering the Voter ID measure today. And Republicans now have more than two-thirds of House seats, giving them the ability to pass pretty much whatever they'd like. Viewed from Vegas or Texas, bets are it'll pass.

"Voter ID, a national balanced budget amendment, and, most recently, the abortion sonogram bill, are not emergencies in the common sense meaning of the term. But they are dear to the hearts of conservatives, and Perry wants to make those hearts flutter," Jillson said.

Sorry for the support

It's not often that a company feels the need to apologize to the governor and "all Texans," but Houston-based Spark Energy had that privilege after its little plane's noisy appearance at Perry's inauguration last week. The plane, whose noise some likened to a weed-whacker, dragged a banner with the company name and "God Bless Texas."

Here's the apology: "Spark Energy sincerely apologizes to Governor Rick Perry, the Inauguration team, and all Texans for any disruption at the Governor's Third Inauguration Ceremony caused by an airplane salute.

"Our intention is to support the Governor's Inauguration and to celebrate Texas," said Keith Maxwell, president and CEO of Spark Energy. "As soon as we realized the disruption, we immediately stepped in to rectify it. We in no way wanted to deny those in attendance the opportunity to hear Governor Perry's vision for his third term in office. In fact, Spark Energy is one of the companies that has benefited from business-focused initiatives led by the Governor. We truly wish him the best in his upcoming term."

And winner will be …

Public Policy Polling last week released a poll saying a Democrat would have an extremely hard time beating a Republican for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's seat.

My colleague R.G. Ratcliffe, reporting about the poll on Texas Politics, added a grain of salt: "Keep in mind, this comes from the same polling firm that said U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison had a 20 percentage point lead over Gov. Rick Perry a year before the GOP primary in which he wiped Hutchison out."